Life abundant

What does your life revolve around?

Most Sunday nights Hubby T and I look at the calendar and talk about what's ahead of us in the coming week.  Which nights will one of us be out for a meeting?  Which days will Hubby T need to work late?  What activities do I have planned for the boys?  Do we have any company coming (i.e. do I need to clean the house?) 

There are many things that we don't have to talk about.  We don't need to worry about traffic or a long commute keeping us away from home everyday.  We don't need to worry about what bills are going to come and whether we have money in the bank to pay them.  We don't have any chronic health problems that send us to a doctor's office on a regular basis.  We don't have to worry about whether we have the freedom to worship who, what, and how we please.

Then there are the things that our life revolves around that we may or may not talk about because we know they will be a part of our life regardless.  We don't necessarily talk about our bible studies or quiet times, but most days of the week we both fit that in (this is the first time in a long time that's happened, go us!).  We don't really talk about the abundant, healthy food exploding out of our fridge and pantry, unless I'm really excited about something I'm planning to make (kielbasa black bean chili anyone?!).  We don't always talk about our beautiful amazing son who surprises us with his words, his knowledge, and his spirit every day.  And we don't talk often about the choice that we both make everyday to love each other and honor our marriage vows.  But maybe we should talk about all of these things more, because these are the things that our life revolves around.

I hope that in the midst of whatever your calendar says your week holds that you find time to talk about the truly important things that your life revolves around.

"I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."  John 10:10

20 month-ish update

Recently overheard conversation:

Hubby T: Do the Eagles score touchdowns?

Baby B: Yes!

Hubby T: Yes!  Do the Redskins score touchdowns?

Baby B: Yes!

Hubby T: No!  Do the Cowboys score touchdowns?

Baby B: Yes!

Hubby T: No!  Do the Giants score touchdowns?

Baby B: Yes!

Hubby T: Only when they are playing the Redskins or Cowboys.

(No offense to all our Redskins, Cowboys or Giants fans out there...and no, there's no need to retaliate by commenting on the validity of the idea of Eagles scoring touchdowns this season *deep sigh* we know.)

So glad I have a sports loving husband around to teach our son a completely non-biased view of the sports world...And now for some random updates on what life with our 20 month old is like!

As of this morning I decreed that we are no longer making toast or pb&j sandwiches for Baby B, at least for now, because all he does is use his finger to lick off the peanut butter and then refuses to eat the bread.  Not cool kiddo, not cool...also not cool?  Refusing to eat any of the food I made for his lunch and then wanting to eat mine.  But that's okay, mommys don't need to eat right?!

Favorite books - the list keeps growing!!  As of today his favorite books include Curious George & the Hot Air Balloon (going back to the library tomorrow, thank goodness!), Pinkalicious, Love You Forever, Do Princesses Really Kiss Frogs, and Clifford the Big Red Dog and the Grouchy Neighbors.  This might seem like a lot of books to be his favorites, so it might not seem that daunting a concept to be asked to read them over and over...but just ask Hubby T how many times he read Pinkalicious before bed last night.  Good thing we have grandparents lined up to babysit in the next few weeks:)   Oh, and his other favorites books?  Anything with tabs!

And just in case you looked at this picture and thought, oh how sweet, they're sitting there together reading so peacefully...think again.  This picture was take 2.  Take 1 was not so pretty...

*Another deep sigh*  Yes, I have a couple of pushers on my hands, and grabbers.  It can be so infuriating to tell Baby B, "Baby D is playing with that right now.  Wait until he's done and then you can have a turn." and then watch him turn around and grab what he wants.  He doesn't always do this, and I think I've said it enough times that he's starting to grasp the concept of his turn/my turn, but it's definitely not an easy road.  I may need to pick up some parenting books to read up on how to handle these issues soon.

Cheerios are still one of his favorite foods...and this is what happens when you open the pantry to put groceries away and stop paying attention to Baby B -

Slinkys are super fun (if I can convince both of them to share) -

And despite my deep sighs, I'm still having a blast with these two.  I mean, come on, who could stay frustrated with this face for long?

Okay, time to go bake some Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread to fill the lunch-deprived stomach of this happy mama:)  Baby B has been working hard on saying the alphabet and numbers...I'll try and get some of it on film to post soon!!

Italia

Whenever I am out and about with the boys, I frequently am asked if they are twins.  They look about the same age, they both have blond hair, and they are carted about in a double stroller, so it's understandable.  I always explain that they're not, that Baby D is just our friend, and we move on.  I don't normally encourage this twin perception.  But today I couldn't help it.  Because today Baby D showed up wearing a shirt that's almost exactly the same as one of Baby B's shirts.  But these aren't just twin shirts in different colors from Target.  These are soccer jerseys from Italy!  Baby B received his from Hubby T's parents after their vacation to Italy last May.  Baby D received his from a friend of his mom's who also went to Italy this summer.  What are the chances that these little friends would end up with almost matching shirts from a totally different continent?!  I decided this picture opportunity was too good to pass up...until I spent several giggly, squirmy minutes trying to get them to hold still.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, I think these pictures are worth just 5 words - little boys don't sit still!!

 You think you're going to get a perfectly posed picture from us?  

Well, just try and catch us...

 Ready, set, let's wiggle at the same time and really mess Mama P up!!

 Ha ha, even by kneeling over us you still can't make us hold still!!

Okay, you got one lucky shot, but this is as close as you're going to get!

I give up.  Hopefully all these pictures put together gives you an idea of what these shirts look like.  Long live Italia, and these silly-squirmy-so cute-almost matching shirted non-twins:)

For the love of Elmo

It all started with a DVD.  A DVD that we inherited from Hubby T's cousin which has a picture of Elmo on the front.  We have never watched this video but last spring Baby B would "play" with his movies by bringing them over to me one by one and I would say, "Look, it's your Elmo movie!"  And that's how he learned who Elmo is.  Way to go Mama P for not even realizing what you were getting yourself into... 

Then came the Elmo iPad app.  Hubby T found this one and it was Baby B's biggest treat while we were traveling to Colorado in the summer.  He's only able to do a couple of the games that the app offers to help teach kids their letters, but he's sure trying. 

After that came the "Where's Elmo's Blanket?" book.  Five pages and 30 some tabs later, "Elmo will never lose his blanket again!"  I don't know what it is about tabs, but they are Baby B's favorite right now.  A thousand bonus points to Mom-Mom for finding this one:)

And then sometime after that we started showing him Elmo videos on YouTube.  I'm not sure why we did this, considering how anti-screen time I've been with him.  It was definitely a turning point...as in, there's no turning back from our child's love of Elmo now.  Instead of Old McDonald (remember earlier this summer when all he would sing was e-i-e-i-e-i?) Baby B's new favorite song is "Elmo's Song!" which he asks to hear a gazillion times each day.  We watch Elmo with the ducks, Elmo singing the alphabet with India Arie, Elmo singing with Adam Sandler...Baby B would probably sit in front of the computer all day if we let him.  Thanks to Auntie A, we now have an Elmo doll that stays in his crib to cuddle with when he sleeps and we have an Elmo plate that has to be used for every single meal.  There is even an Elmo coloring book from the $1 section of Target that is sitting in my closet for his Christmas stocking.  (Yes, I'm already thinking about Christmas...I know, crazy.)  How did we get to this point?!

I am definitely not a parent who wants to cut my child off from popular culture, but it has surprised me how quickly he picked up on it and how quickly we gave into this new obsession.  Elmo is not all bad, so we'll keep being vigilant about what ways and in what quantities he consumes this silly red puppet monster.  In the meantime, if you have any recommendations of how to get "Elmo's Song" out of my head, I would greatly appreciate hearing them!

Thoughts of a "labor"ing mother

Whew, so remember that massive to-do list from last week?  Well I finally finished it.  On Saturday.  At which point my mind immediately chugged forward into this week's to-do list.  I guess that's just the way it goes sometimes...especially when you have distractions like this around...

Baby B has a thing for my shoes lately...Hubby T isn't quite as amused as I am!

So today, Labor Day, the day that our country takes a day off to celebrate the work we do all the rest of the year, I cleaned the entire bottom floor of my house and tore up all the remaining dying plants in my garden (I know I'm long overdue giving an update on that project, I'll add it to the list!) and reassembled the newly washed seats of the double stroller and made delicious Veggie Chili in Portaballa Caps and...ok, I'll stop.  You get my point, moms never rest!  I guess we already celebrated that earlier this year in May huh?:)

But what I really want to talk about, and probably what you really want to hear about, is these guys!

Although we've only had Baby D back for a couple days, they are both already hard at work being awesome 19 and 18 month old little boys.  I'm working on new blog names for them because although Baby B will always be my baby, it's really not an accurate description of them anymore!!  They run around the house constantly (although Baby D's run is more of a skipping run, hard to describe with words but completely adorable), they eat with forks, they prefer to be out of the stroller rather than in, and they climb stairs all on their own (yikes!).  Mercifully they both still nap for a couple hours every afternoon and, even more mercifully, it's at the same time.  My favorite moment from our first week back together was when Baby B hugged Baby D so hard they both ended up on the floor, still hugging, and laughing their heads off.  I'm going to do my best to recreate that moment and capture it on video camera!!

Ok, enough gushing about my little guys.  I have a whole week of them ahead of me.  Now it is time to go finish the orange date sweet rolls for breakfast tomorrow, help Hubby T put Baby B to bed, and enjoy an episode of our current favorite show, Friday Night Lights.  And hopefully all of this will be accomplished by 9:30 when we will turn our light off in hopes of getting 8 hours of sleep before the alarm goes off tomorrow morning at 5:30.  Hubby T is working at a high school this year which, as he says, "means that I'm leaving the house at the time I used to get out of bed last year!"  So, to help us all go to bed (and hopefully wake up) with a smile, here's a little bit of father-son silliness.  And here's to all you other "labor"ing moms out there...I hope you get as much satisfaction out of your work as I do.